Police rushed to a pensioner’s home after a heavy-breathing 999 call – to find her DOG had phoned them.
Mary Amos-Cole, 76, was stunned when female officer knocked on her door to check she was OK.
She told her she was responding to an emergency call and Mary realised it had been made by her playful dog Leighton.
The two year-old Belgian Malinois regularly grabs phones and other items and had picked up the handset from a garden bench as Mary tended her plants.
She chased after him trying to get it back and had no idea he had accidentally pressed the number 9 button with his teeth.
Mary, who runs a hairdressers in Edlesborough, Bucks., said: “Next thing I knew there was a policewoman from Thames Valley Police at the door asking if I was alright.
“She said a colleague answered the call and all he could hear was heavy breathing.
“That’s when we realised it must have been Leighton panting.
“They didn’t know what our emergency was or which emergency service we needed, so she was sent to check our address.
“He’s a very naughty dog but luckily we all took it as a bit of a joke.”
Belgian Malinois dogs are commonly used as guard and search dogs.
Leighton has previous form with the police after setting off burglar alarms with his incessant barking.
Mary, a grandmother-of-five, added: “He does seem to quite like the police. He’s been in trouble a few times and seems to quite like them coming round.
“I actually think he has aspirations to be in uniform himself.
“The police woman laughed because she said he’s now just skipping the step of people calling the police on him and calling them himself.
“He breaks out of the cage, steals things, opens cupboards, he was supposed to be a well behaved dog, that’s why we picked him.
“But it is all quite a funny joke and he’s adored by everyone who meets him.”
Thames Valley Police said a “silent 999 call” was received from the address just afternoon last Thursday.
A spokesman said: “At 12:57 it was confirmed by the occupant at the address that their dog had accidentally called 999.”